A King in New York A Woman of Paris (2 Disc Special Edition)

Buy This Item A King in New York A Woman of Paris (2 Disc Special Edition)  List Price: $29.98  Available from Amazon  $26.99  on 11-28-2008     Features Actors: Dawn Addams, Robert Arden, Maxine Audley, Phil Brown, Clifford Buckton Directors: Charles Chaplin Format: AC-3, Closed-captioned, Dolby, Dubbed, DVD-Video, Subtitled, NTSC Language: English Subtitles: English, Spanish, French, Portuguese, Georgian, Chinese, Thai Region: Region 1 (U.S. and Canada only. Read more about DVD formats.) Aspect Ratio: 1.33:1 Number of discs: 2 Rating: Studio: Warner Home Video DVD Release Date: March 2, 2004 Run Time: 178 minutes Average Customer Review:   17 Reviews 5 star:  (7) 4 star:  (6) 3 star:  (2) 2 star:  (1) 1 star:  (1) See all 17 customer reviews...   (17 customer reviews) Reader Reviews This two-disc collection contains Chaplin's penultimate film, 'A King in New York,' which was also his final starring film, and a much earlier film he directed but only appears in for all of two seconds in a heavily disguised cameo role, 'A Woman of Paris.' I find the former to be very underrated, and the latter to be rather overrated. For the life of me, I can't understand why so many film critics love 'A Woman of Paris' and praise it as a beautiful classic masterpiece. Seeing it more than once hasn't changed my opinion of it. It's certainly not a horrible film, but overall it just strikes me as an average melodrama, with characters I didn't really like or feel that connected to. Apart from the fact that it was directed by Chaplin, there isn't much explanation as to why this film is thought of so highly. I've heard the other explanation that many critics like it because it's about an affair yet isn't moralistic or preachy about it. The best thing about this movie is the dapper Adolphe Menjou. This was his breakthrough role; prior his biggest claim to fame was playing Dr. Raoul de St. Hubert in 'The Sheik.' Menjou steals the show in this otherwise ordinary melodrama, and his acting is as great as it was in all of his other films. Even though I'm repelled by his odious behavior during the McCarthyist witch hunts, there's no denying that, politics aside, this was a brilliant actor. This film was also, so Chaplin believed, supposed to have jump-started the solo career of his leading lady Edna Purviance, but it was not to be. However, my reasons for not caring much for this film are not the reasons why most people in 1923 stayed away in droves. Back then they didn't like it because they saw Chaplin's name on the marquee but were disappointed they didn't see him in the film, and it wasn't even a comedy, which people had come to expect from him. 'A King in New York' is a very funny film and a brilliant satire of America in the Fifties. It took a lot of guts to make such a film, when America was in the throes of McCarthyism. Because of the political climate of the time, it wasn't released in America for quite some time, but it was very well-received in Europe. However, I agree that this film isn't quite as perfect as it could have been, since it tries to take on too many targets at once instead of just focusing on one or two main things to attack and spoof. He takes on wide-screen movies, television, commercials, the McCarthyist witch hunts and violations of civil liberties, the atomic bomb, plastic surgery, and rock and roll. Chaplin may have been approaching seventy when he made this film, but he was still just as funny, inventive, original, and genius as ever. Even though a lot of fans don't like his sound films as much as his silent classics, I've found that I enjoy his sound films just as much as his silents. They were great and funny in different ways. There are also moments in this film harkening back to his silent days, such as the comedy routine onstage when he's trying not to laugh so his plastic surgery won't come undone, or when he's pantomiming his restaurant order to the waiter over the din of the band playing right behind his table. The storyline about young Rupert and his Communist parents, and how his affiliation with Rupert got King Shahdov pegged as a Communist as well, really brought the evils of McCarthyism home for me. I'd long known all about what went on and was outraged how the government got away with violating so many peoples' basic civil liberties and rights to freedom of expression and political affiliation for that long, but seeing it acted out onscreen as opposed to merely reading about it really made it seem even scarier and more enfuriating. It really served the HUAC right when King Shahdov accidentally sprayed them with the hose! For someone just getting into Chaplin, these aren't two of the movies I'd recommending buying or seeing first, but for someone who's seen most of his masterpieces already and is ready for the lesser-known stuff, this would be a good place to start getting into that territory.  Comment | Permalink |  function showYesNoCommunityResponse(uId,result,value) { var msgLayer = getElement("thanks" + uId); if ( result == "SUCCESS" ) { msgLayer.innerHTML = "Thanks for the valuable feedback you provided to other Amazon.com readers and reviewers. 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A King in New York A Woman of Paris (2 Disc Special Edition) List Price: $29.98 Available from Amazon Price: $26.99 Updated on 11-28-2008.

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